Scars to Match
by Twi-Red-Ruxi
Summary: "She was the same age as little Kenai, so it was only natural for the two of them to be encouraged to spend some time together. They should've been more surprised at how quickly they got along actually." Oneshot character study.


**Author's Note: Hello hello! How's life, my dear fellow fanfiction fans? **

**This time I bring forth a story I started after re-watching Brother Bear, the first and the second movie. Personally, I love the first one the most; but since I'm not that good at writing bromance, I wanted to explore the relationship of the main happy couple! ...No, it's not the moose brothers.**

**And, well... maybe it's just me, but the sequel left me a bit unsatisfied when it comes to the romance department; some parts of their relationship seemed to have been left unsaid. I dunno, maybe they know where they stand when it comes to each other, but _I_ _don't_! D:  
**

**So yeah, before I go anywhere else with my ideas on this topic, I had to write about what we already know from the movie. Sorry if it seems kinda boring, this is a bit of an attempt at character study.  
**

**It seems kinda wonky in certain places but for the life of me I can't seem to make it any better no matter how many tweaks! So I'll just leave it at that and hope you enjoy it anyway...  
**

**Disclaimer: This is purely fan-made!  
**

* * *

Another's tribe chief came by their village to discuss something or the other with their own. It was all a blur, looking back at those moments in his childhood, politics not being something of his concern as a kid. At that time, the one thing that stood out the most to him was the fact that the man had brought a child along.

She was a quiet little thing, with long hair and curious glances sneaked through the curtain of her hair, dogging her father's steps. Little Nita she was, the daughter of the visiting chief. She'd never come out this far from home before, so she hid as best as she could, shielding herself and peeking once in a while through her dark safety curtain.

She was the same age as Sitka and Denahi's little (always, _always little_) Kenai, so it was so very natural for the two of them to be encouraged to spend time together for the rest of the day. They should've been more surprised at how quick they actually managed to get along.

* * *

Being always the 'little brother' in the family made it all a brand new, odd sensation of actually leading somebody for once. And Nita didn't seem to mind; once she opened up, she was very eager to explore with him and let him lead the way; he was, for a change, the one who knew things best around here. But most importantly, they were both on equal ground, and Kenai found that nice and comforting.

And she was fiery, outrageously boyish for a girl once she decided to challenge him. He didn't feel overwhelmed, unlike all those times with his brothers, with whom it felt like they were going easy on him _all the time_.

But now he didn't even feel the need to win.

He heard her _surprisingly girlish_ laugh while racing towards their next destination, skipping through the snow-frosted forest; he remembered the way her black hair framed her sun-kissed cheeks, long fringes in her face, eyes -barely visible- shining, as she first came into the village.

There was no contest.

* * *

They clicked the very instant they started, much to Nita's delight.

He didn't push to tease her like all the other boys in her own village did, neither did he take advantage of the fact that she was in his own territory. The places were unfamiliar, but with the similar kind of landscapes to the ones back home. It was beautiful, and the boy offered to show her the best places around. It was an offer she could not refuse.

Kenai was nice. Really, truly, genuinely nice. He lent her a hand when she needed it, then let her be. Being the chief's daughter was irrelevant here, and she found that she liked that.

Kenai was fun. When he promised her the best places to see, it wasn't just the destinations, but every road they took towards them. He was familiar with every place they went to; it was obvious from the way he moved around the water, the stones, the hills... She couldn't help but trust him in an instant. It seemed that that was the kind of person he was.

* * *

They still had time for only one more place to see, and Kenai was adamant about the fact that she just _had_ to see it. With a familiarity that only kids could possess, they shouted each other's names like only the dearest of friends would while battling with their sticks, racing towards their destination.

* * *

The sound of the ice- shattering under her weight would haunt her for winters to come; and as she grew up, the memory of the cold water entering her lungs would make her shiver even while bathing or simply washing her hair.

But she was still alive, because Kenai had been there to save her that day. The memories at that point turned bittersweet due to that terrible fright.

* * *

He felt terrible. Nita was cold, so cold, when he pulled her out of the water. She was coughing; she was alive, but _oh_, she was like the flame of a torch snuffed out. Nita would turn into embers, then ashes; she needed warmth, safety, _fire_. He tried to stop her from freezing, gathered as many dry twigs he could find and watched helplessly as she sneezed in even numbers and sighed tiredly and wiped her little nose with her furry coat sleeve as they both sat on the stone floor in front of the small fire.

It was his fault. He didn't mean it, but regardless, now Nita was unhappy. She might start hating him. That thought made him sad and he was helpless, at the mercy of his own limitations. His gaze kept wandering everywhere (_NitaNita, poor little Nita_), seemingly searching for something to grasp his thoughts coherently.

His eyes landed on the amulet around his neck and he remembered how she admired it earlier that day. The boy made the decision in a split second; he placed it around her neck. Nita gasped in surprise and then in wonder. She looked at him with a light in her eyes, with amazement for his unexpected generosity, and it made him so happy to see her misery gone. He did not have more than a few seconds to see her smile _like that_ at him, for she hastily turned to scribble something on the wall. He looked and tried to make sense of it all (_everything_). The sight of her creation made him gasp, his chest swelling and tightening all at once, and he couldn't stop smiling at all the possible implications from within her drawing.

She turned around and _smiled_. At him. _Like the stars and the moon and oh spirits, she is Nita._

"We're always gonna be best friends forever, huh?" Spoken so softly, it sounded more like a statement than a question to Kenai, because they both knew the answer.

He looked at her smiling face as he realized that this was something special, something amazing and beautiful and precious; something that he had never ever felt before.

She felt it too, _probably_, but she seemed less aware of it. Somehow, she wasn't able to see it more fully, more like the way he did.

But yes. Yes, they will be.

_Always._

* * *

As they said their goodbyes, Kenai couldn't match his with Nita's cheerful one. Because he _felt it_ and he now knew he should be by her side and that they shouldn't be apart. He felt oddly protective while watching her with an equal amount of wonder, like watching a wild rare flower bloom in spring. She didn't understand, she didn't realize it yet.

He knew that he didn't know (nor did she) when he'd ever see her again and that made him so, very _very sad_.

* * *

He wouldn't be able to find comfort in anything for weeks, nursing a wound that he couldn't seem to close. It would eventually close into a scar, tucked into the back of his mind as days-weeks-seasons rolled by. But before that, he will come to realize; that his heart was the one sporting the wound and then realize that _he was in love with little Nita and he will always alwaysalways will be..._

* * *

As the snow kept piling up, winter by winter, time turned her terror into manageable scars. Sometimes she didn't shiver while looking at the flowing river anymore. Sometimes she wondered what Kenai might be doing in his own village, on his own side of the river. He had been such a good friend, in that one single half-day they had spent together; she hoped that he stayed the way.

Sometimes she longed to see him again. But sometimes she'd realize that he wouldn't be a little boy anymore if she did (just like she wasn't that rebellious, _irresponsible_ little girl anymore). So she didn't pursue the thought any further than that: in fear of having the memory of the little Kenai she knew tarnished by the cold (winterice_cold_drowning) reality.

So she didn't.

* * *

**Now that I look back at this (which I've written weeks ago) it seems kinda over the top sometimes. IS IT? D:**

**Bah, humbug, I don't wanna edit this any longer, I'd only make things worse...  
**

**But yeah, considering the fact that Kenai, even years after that encounter in his childhood, still thinks about Nita often enough to dream about her... I'd say he fell for her from the very beginning. And Nita did seem like a pretty single-minded cluelessly obvious, wannabe-mature kind of person and stuff like that. **

**(I mean, she was all in her own little world thinking about burning a gift she got from her childhood friend -who also saved her life that very same day- _so she could marry a stranger_ and DIDN'T REALIZE how much she was hurting Kenai BroBear's feelings! D: _How inconsiderate can you get, woman?)_  
**

**Okay, I'm done here. _Rant over and out.  
_**

**Have a nice day and stay awesome, dudes and dudettes! :)_  
_**

**P.S.: What do you guys think? About this couple's dynamics, what makes it work and doesn't? Shaaaaare please, you beautiful people! :D  
**


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